Home and Garden

Quantifiable data shows that reducing stress and brain fatigue is as simple as taking a walk in the park.

According to a study by researchers at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh and the University of Edinburgh, people who live near trees and parks have lower levels of stress hormones and improved concentration. The study appeared this month in The British Journal of Sports Medicine.

Back in April 2007 when Mike and Mashalle Bailesfirst purchased their home at 930 Sherwood Circle, they realized the house and yard needed a little attention. With the windows of the house almost covered in overgrown hollies, English ivy and the thorny spikes of ileagnes throughout the yard, the Bailes had to make a few choices.

Many of the shrubs were removed and replaced with slower growing lower maintenance varieties such as nandina.

Following Valentine’s Day and the shelves piled high with those heart-shaped boxes of candy, I have been thinking about the pleasure cacao trees have given the world.

The fruit of the cacao tree are large football-shaped pods, each containing up to100 seeds. Cacao seeds are the basis of all chocolate. The seeds, or beans, are very bitter, but the pulp that surrounds them is sweet and when it is allowed to ferment, the bitterness of the beans is reduced and they develop a heady chocolaty aroma.

Back in 1999 when Michael Burgess first began working at Hartley Funeral Home, little did he know one day he would end up owning and operating the business.

With a degree in Sports Administration from Limestone College, he worked in his field of study for about a year before his uncle Jerry Hartley offered him a chance to learn the funeral business. He accepted the job and spent most of his time maintaining the landscaping of the funeral home while learning firsthand about the business.

By late Saturday afternoon, Feb. 9, the 20-yard metal dumpster between the Daughters of the American Revolution monument at Buford Battleground and the monument placed there during the 226th anniversary was full of brush and yard debris for the second time.

An inspection of the 2-acre property shows a few sawed-up limbs on the ground that wouldn’t fit into the dumpster.

There are also several mounds of fresh-raked leaves on the back of the tract near a barbed-wire fence where cattle do what cattle do.

On Saturday, Feb. 2, the Lancaster County Council of the Arts will host its biggest fundraiser of the year.

The 18th annual LCCA gala, entitled Art & Soul, promises an evening of dancing with silent and live auctions to support Lancaster County’s art programs. The black-tie-optional event begins at 7 p.m. in the Bradley Arts and Sciences Building on the University of South Carolina Lancaster campus.